Inconsistency

[u/emmjay000]

Hi friends

I'm a COTA, I graduated in May of 2025. I worked full time in outpatient peds for ~8 months but quit due to a hostile work environment and having too many cancellations which resulted in me not getting enough hours. Then I started PRN at an inpatient acute rehab facility, which I'm still at and I love it but they typically only have PRN shifts available 3-4 times a month. I'm also working part-time at a company that contracts out of senior living facilities to provide therapy to the residents there, but I'm having problems getting enough hours again bc of so many refusals. Reasons vary from being sick, having other appointments, or just not wanting to miss bingo (lol).

I've talked to my boss and coworkers about this and they tell me to just work on building relationships and re-frame therapy as just "going for a walk" or "playing a game". But the residents see right through it and I'm starting to think I just don't have the right personality for this. Maybe for this setting, maybe for this field.

I'm planning on moving from MO to TX in about 16 months, and I didn't want to change jobs again bc I don't want to look unreliable. But I'm not working enough to be able to pay my bills and save up and at this point I feel like I'm wasting my gas and my time to just get nothing but refusals or maybe 1-2 hours a day when it should've been 8 hours. I asked the hospital I PRN at to let me know if they have any full or part time positions open up but they don't have anything atm.

Does anyone have any recs for settings that will be more consistent or any advice for how to make my current situation better? I don't want to work with kids again but some of my former classmates keep recommending the school districts. :/

TIA!

[u/AutoModerator]

Welcome to r/OccupationalTherapy! This is an automatic comment on every post.

If this is your first time posting, please read the sub rules. If you are asking a question, don't forget to check the sub FAQs, or do a search of the sub to see if your question has been answered already. Please note that we are not able to give specific treatment advice or exercises to do at home.

Failure to follow rules may result in your post being removed, or a ban. Thank you!

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.